Dr. Nguyen Tan Binh, who is also the deputy director of the municipal Department of Health, said that as of March 21, more than 1,500 people have contracted HFM, mostly children under five years old, and one person has died from the disease.

The number of infected people still remains high, with about 200 new cases, reported each week.

To further improve people’s knowledge about the disease, the municipal People’s Committee has co-ordinated with the Department of Health to monitor the development HFM and try to reduce the number of infections to below 250 per week in April. People should also be educated about washing their hands regularly; cleaning their houses, children’s toys and other items; and disinfecting affected areas.

Pediatric Hospitals No 1 and 2 and the Hospital for Tropical Diseases have conducted training courses to improve the capacity of their medical workers to treat the disease in localities.